The F Ranked Journey (BL)

Jean POV:

The soil in the gardens for rent was good, but the seed vendor was a robber and a half. Who would give out a gold coin for a bag of tomato sprouts? And not only that, but his pumpkin seeds had mold on them. Still, I didn't give up. Rummaged around his stand, trying to find something that I could make into a salad in a couple of hours.

"Jean, is this good?" Mike held up a bag for me to see, and grinned. There was a picture of cucumbers on it. The problem was, that the bag was sealed, and there was no way to know if the seeds were good for planting, or if they had mold on them.

"Maybe not this one," I could see a couple of boxes, and I was sure that I could see inside, but then the handler narrowed his eyes at us, and took out a box.

"This is the best I can do, nature spirit," oh, so he had something against nature spirits? That was not always so. Before the war, nature spirits were respected. Nowadays, they were limped together with the bastards from Arkano and their godforsaken goblins.

"Can I see what is inside?" I reached out for the box, but the handler reached out as well. I was sure he wanted to be paid first. We were at his stand for the better half of the hour, so he must have thought we won't buy anything by this point.

Not that I should have assumed. Assuming is bad, and more than one human had told me that it was a character flaw of mine.

"Hey, what about this one?" Mike held up an open box, and I looked inside. Man, how did he find that? Those were wheat seeds, yes, but not just any kind of wheat!

Fast-growing wheat. They needed magic to grow, and I had no idea how the handler got his hands on them, but I was not about to let them slip through my fingers.

"We are taking this bag," I looked pointedly at Mike. It took him awhile to fish out his coin bag, with a cute expression on his face which reminded me of an adorable baby rabbit.

Then again, for all his muscle, Mike could always pass off as cute. That was one of the many things I liked about him. He was not only handsome; he was also good. And this good spirit of his could be glimpsed in the way he furrowed his brows in concentration, or in the way he was always ready to smile.

A better soulmate I wouldn't have been able to find. 

"Thank you for the service!" said Mike, and I blinked. The handler had just put box after box of moldy seeds under our noses. I wouldn't have thanked him. 

For a split second, I thought I saw a softness on the vendor's face. It made him look younger; a bit kinder. Huh, so Mike had such an effect not just on me, but also on strangers?

That was good to know for future situation. Cuteness must always be leveraged!

"Yes, my boy. Here," the vendor gave a bag to Mike, then sighed. "I am sorry that my goods are not all up to standard. But if you had taken them to the cleaning specialists, they would have been good for planting, you know."

Yes, but said specialist would have asked for an arm and a leg. Still, I said nothing. My curiosity drove me to look into the bag, and I smiled brightly, when I saw cabbage sprouts.

What were the chances, that they would taste like the cabbages I adored?

"The garden here would serve, right?" I was so lost in thought, that I had not even felt it, when Mike put me on his broad back, and carried me around. Can't lie, it felt good to be carried. As a boar, no one wanted to carry me. Not even when I was still a piglet.

But I saw families on the farms. Watched them day and night from the fringes of the forest. The children were always happy when they got carried. 

I envied them. A family is something every nature spirit wants for themselves. Those who would claim otherwise were soon so lost in their black hearts, that they would ruin entire farmsteads, instead of blessing them.

More than once I was hunted. Yet, the connection I had with Mike gave me hope. He lost so much. His mother as he was born. A lovely woman, who died of a fever, lost, but not forgotten. Then his father, an honorable and idealistic man, who loved him enough to teach him the value of goodness.

I didn't want to bring more heartache to Mike. He couldn't be allowed to lose me as well. I couldn't do it to him. That is the reason why I kept my mouth shut, as the handler tried to cheat us.

Nature spirits didn't have too many rights. I was in danger here. My true form would bring the attention of the guards. Anyone else would have packed up, taken Mike, and then hid away in a forest. Preferably, one which had a river passing through it.

Mike wouldn't have liked that. No, I couldn't do that to him. Cage him like a songbird, and expect that he would sing for me. I could understand animals, and songbirds rarely sang out of happiness when behind bars.

No, if the humans had known what they put these wonderful creatures through, they would have known the true meaning of shame.

"Yes, let me plant everything," the wheat would be ready to collect in two hours. The cabbages would take longer, but we had time. 

"May I help?" he looked so hopeful. He wanted to share this moment with me.

"Yes!" And so, I started teaching him how to plant wheat seeds. For a time, he just dumped the wheat seeds in the holes we made with our fingers. Then, he bit his lower lip, and looked at me.

"Like that?" This time he took just one seed, and placed it gently in the hole.

"Perfection," I was no longer talking about the wheat. For a nature spirit, there was no greater expression of love than a careful consideration when planting a field.

Mike had shown that in spades.